All-Ages Dance Party!—Snugfit Social Club will host its first all-ages DJ nightat the Cell Theatre (First Street, just south of Lomas) this Friday, Dec. 23. The monthly indie/electro/disco/nuwave dance party will, as usual, be hosted by DJs Paul and Will, and will unusually also feature longtime Shack Up DJ from Denver Tim Garvey, plus other talents from the Albuquerque scene. They've got their hands full with two big rooms to fill, and this party won't stop until 3 in the morning. And did I mention it's all-ages? $5 gets you in, and "you can dance as insanely as you'd like," say the Snugfit boyz.

with DJs Eldon, Justin Roberts, Zaid and Carlos Zentella

By Simon McCormack

Thursday, Dec. 22, 10 p.m.; Martini Grille (21-and-over), $5: As I entered Miles Maeda's website (milesmaeda.com) my computer's mouse immediately went into spinning-colorful-disk mode, which indicates that my computer needs a breather before it can allow me to click out of, into or do pretty much anything. This has happened many-a-time, especially when visiting band websites, and it usually results in my looking around pensively to see how annoyed my fellow Alibi pals have become from the blisteringly loud and obnoxious music that has taken over my computer and caused it to fall into paralysis. This time, however, my computer's ineptitude was not worrisome at all because the music flowing forth was up-tempo without being obtrusive. Maeda's opening web-track "So Hot" is a song that you can sip your drink to without getting a splitting headache from an inundation of noise pollution. Maeda, who is believed by many to be the major source behind Chicago's mushroom-jazz scene, has created electronica for the reasonably laid back. Although his songs are pretty different from one another, Maeda tends to find a groove and stick with it; pulling from genres as diverse as acid jazz, house, funk and R&B. Albuquerque's over-21 crowd can see the Hawaii native along with local act DJ Eldon at the Martini Grille. Fans of hip but unpretentious DJs should take note.

with Felonious Groove Foundation, DJ Chach and secret guests

By Simon McCormack

Friday, Dec. 23, 8 p.m.; Moonlight Lounge (21-and-over), free (donations of food and clothing greatly appreciated): Grab the funkiest retro sweater you can find and head out to the Moonlight Lounge for the freshest holiday party in the Duke City. The Dish and Don Mickey Designs are putting on a holiday party/fundraiser with donations benefiting the Salvation Army. What'sthedish.com's Kevin Hopper says party attendees can donate their old-school attire while cutting-a-rug to Felonious Groove, DJ Chach and a special mystery band.

Metal success never tasted so good

By Simon McCormack

In less than a year and a half, The Ground Beneath has earned a full-page spread in the Albuquerque Journal, partied with hardcore metal gurus Seven Dust and recorded their first full-length LP with Grammy-nominated producer Tim Scroh at Step Bridge Studios in Santa Fe. I'd be lying if I said these twenty-somethings weren't residents of "Talent City," but, putting that aside, what, pray tell, is their secret to supercharged metal success? "Hard work pays off, I guess," Steve Civerolo, lead singer and guitarist for TGB aw-shucksily explains. "There's always naysayers. When we started, emo and sideways haircuts were big and what we were doing was the opposite of that and it wasn't well-received, but you keep rolling."

Old and new favorites for the New Year

By Jessica Cassyle Carr

While any compilation from MTV's "The Grind" will suffice, here are some more suggestions for your New Year's Eve party. The songs are in rough chronological order from the beginning of the evening to cleaning up at the end of the night.

This entire album is Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelek with accompaniment) covering Modest Mouse. Some of the songs, like "Truckers Atlas," are brilliant reinterpretations, but others are just awkward, i.e. "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" where the “drinkin' coca Coca Cola” line causes me to cringe. The problem is that Mark Kozelek is generally a purveyor of soft singer/songwriter emotion, and so he fails at capturing the irony and ardor required for some of the songs. But Kozelek enthusiasts will probably love the album anyway.